When independent economist Cameron Bagrie was asked to identify our most pressing problem for the Herald’s New NZ series last November, he didn’t hesitate. “If you want to pick an economic barometer of where New Zealand’s going to be in 30 years, I don’t think there’s any better one than education system outcomes today,” he said. “If you’ve been looking at achievement or attendance, you’re going to be really worried about where New Zealand’s going to be in 30 years.”
Bagrie was pinpointing a trend that has worried employers for some time. Universities noticed a growing number of students who had passed NCEA level 2 yet were unable to write an essay or understand basic mathematical equations. After considerable pushing, the universities got their wish for independent literacy and numeracy tests as part of NCEA. The tests are due to begin in 2024 and early results are ominous. Only a third of students in pilot tests passed the writing standard and two thirds passed in reading. Only a quarter of boys and 2 per cent of students in decile 1 schools tested passed the writing test.
Defenders have been quick to point out that the test had several limitations. Unfortunately, as our new education series Making the Grade explains today, the results are broadly consistent with national and international data showing New Zealand students are struggling in the core subjects of reading, writing, maths and science. To take just a few examples, 55 per cent of primary students were behind on maths when they finished primary school. Two thirds were behind on reading and 80 per cent were behind on science. International tests show New Zealand has a much higher proportion of students with virtually no grasp of maths or science compared to Australia, England or the United States. One estimates about one in five of our students are functionally illiterate.